4 Hezekiah king of Judah putteth down the brazen serpent, and destroyeth the idols, 7 and prospereth. 11 Israel is carried away captive. 30 The blasphemy of Sennacherib. Now in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

New king of Judah: Hezekiah Father’s name: Ahaz His age at the beginning of his reign: 25 years old Length of reign: 29 years, in Jerusalem Mother’s name: Abi (daughter of Zechariah) Character of his reign: good (similar to that of his ancestor David) Reigning in Israel at that time: King Hoshea (son of Elah), who had been the king there for 3 years

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz began his rule over Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David. He got rid of the local fertility shrines, smashed the phallic stone monuments, and cut down the sex-and-religion Asherah groves. As a final stroke he pulverized the ancient bronze serpent that Moses had made; at that time the Israelites had taken up the practice of sacrificing to it—they had even dignified it with a name, Nehushtan (The Old Serpent).

In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, reigned Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah. (In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the king of Judah, began to reign.)

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